referendum over but concerns over press freedom in Egypt

Updated
January 17, 2014 09:13:00

Egyptians have approved a new constitution, according to unofficial results. The two day vote was always going to be a one-sided affair and early figures confirm that more than 90 per cent voted yes. The freedom of the press has once again become an issue after the arrest of an Associated Press cameraman during the vote.

TIM PALMER: Egyptians have approved a new constitution, according to unofficial results. The two day vote was always going to be a one-sided affair and early figures confirm that more than 90 per cent voted yes.

But the freedom of the press has once again become an issue after the arrest of an Associated Press cameraman during the vote.

Middle East correspondent Hayden Cooper reports from Cairo.

HAYDEN COOPER: The referendum victory for the interim government is overwhelming - just as most had expected.

Selling newspapers on the street in Cairo, Mohammed Hassan was having a bumper day.

(Sound of Mohammed Hassan speaking)

"People are buying lots of papers because of the referendum," he says, "and this result will change the future of Egypt."

He hopes the win secures the entrance to the presidential race of military chief General Abdul Fattah el-Sisi.

"I'm very optimistic," he says, "not just me but all Egyptians, this is the first time we feel that there will be change."

That optimism doesn't spread to Mostafa al-Khateeb. A Muslim Brotherhood supporter, he boycotted the vote.

MOSTAFA AL-KHATEEB: Voting in the referendum means is that you recognising it as a process so I'm not recognising the process as a whole because it is based on a military coup.

HAYDEN COOPER: Mostafa al-Khateeb is also a journalist, a senior editor for the newspaper run by the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing - a newspaper, that's been shut down.

MOSTAFA AL-KHATEEB: Yeah, we are now expecting anything now. Just being a Muslim Brotherhood or being an FJP (Freedom and Justice Party) member, so it is now you can be in jail for nothing.

HAYDEN COOPER: He accuses the Egyptian government of a concerted attack on the media.

Only yesterday, an Associated Press cameraman was arrested and detained for filming pictures which were being broadcast live on Al Jazeera, a channel the Egyptian government despises.

Three other Al Jazeera journalists remain in prison, including Australian Peter Greste.

MOSTAFA AL-KHATEEB: Targetting journalists and the media men is intended by the military coup in order to hide their crimes and what's happening inside Egypt in order to just convey one side of the story.

HAYDEN COOPER: Overnight, Egypt's prosecutor-general issued a statement defending the case against Australian journalist Peter Greste and his two Al Jazeera colleagues. He claims that during the investigation some of the group confessed to being members of the Muslim Brotherhood and he maintains the journalists were fabricating events in Egypt to tarnish the country's reputation.

They've now been held for 20 days, but according to the prosecutor-general that's not a restriction on the freedom of speech.